Chicago 2040: Action 5
by steelraven
Summary: Ada lost her arm to Genom. Hase lost both legs. Shaine may lose her soul... NOTE: Currently incomplete.
1. The Pawn

The Pawn

The Pawn  
_By Ada, Shaine, and Shatterclaw. Individual rating: PG-13._

The office was small but tastefully decorated; a large window overlooked the lab next door. The man behind the desk was handsome, but not too young. "Good afternoon, Miss Inho."

"Sir." Ada Inho's eyes flicked over to the woman sitting on the desk. She was of about average human height and weight, with blond hair. Her tight-fitting, gold cheongsam revealed a barcode tattoo on one thigh. She looked human, but from the pale skin and submissive posture Ada inferred Boomer.

"I believe I may have a job for you," Erik continued. "Your resume is...ah...most impressive." He studied her carefully, as did the female on the desk.

"Are you familiar with the vigilante group known as the Steel Ravens?" 

"I have read about them, sir, but I have yet to see them in action." She glared at the woman, then softened her gaze and returned it to Erik.

He nodded. "Bunny, get the files, would you?"

Erik tapped a button on his laptop and the window turned opaque. A display popped up and images flowed across the screen. "We don't have much concrete information on them, either, and that's why I intend to hire you."

The diagrams on the screen were mostly of the outer armor, with some notes on weapons. "Yes, of course." Ada memorized them with lightning speed.

"These have been compiled from eyewitness accounts. We have no scanner records of them; one of the few hard facts is that they have a way to mask themselves from all known methods of surveillance. No known photos have ever been taken."

"Hmmm... That will make it - hrmp - difficult." She frowned. "Is there any way you know of to meet them, short of sending a Boomer to rampage mindlessly?"

He glared at her for a moment, then continued. "Weapons range from lasers to massive EMP guns."

Bunny returned with a HPCMCIA and handed it to Erik. He slid it into the laptop. "Some of our files on them date back to the late 1800's." There were footnotes about a Native American legend...Ada's eyes opened very slightly in surprise.

"No wonder you wish this thorn removed."

"Though of course," Bunny added coolly, "We doubt that those early files are related."

"More accurate reports date back to 2030, and the first 'confirmed' sighting was in 2039. A Raven symbol was found carved into a destroyed Genom Boomer. From there, reports and rogue Boomers began to pile up...losses to the corporation are staggering."

Ada nodded. "That would place them to slightly after the Knight Sabers' emergence. Could there be any relation to their technology?"

He frowned. "Unknown. They appear from nowhere, and then disappear... We're not even certain that the labs are secure where they're concerned."

"I can see why. What backup would I receive, assuming I need it?" He could tell from her tone of voice that she didn't expect to need it.

"We do have some next-generation combat Boomers which you could draw upon, but our supply is currently limited. Be assured that if you truly needed them you would have them."

"And have they encountered the Ravens before?"

"Some have, and the memory records have been shared among the group." Images of a Boomer's death flashed upon the screen.

Ada shook her head. "Then they are useless. Their weaknesses are already known."

"Admittedly...but the Ravens have not yet gone up against our latest revision. A Boomer so close to human that it can pass as one. Weapons are modular, and there are plenty of them." He seemed quite confident.

A ferocious glint appeared in her eyes. "Then perhaps I can do something for you, sir."

"Very good." He popped the disk. "I'll have the specs for the Nexus-6 combat units sent to you, and you can take this now."

Her purple eyes seemed to laugh. "Thank you. Now, one last question..."

"Yes?"

"How much are they worth to you?"

The same ferocious glint was now in his eyes. "All the world. I am offering eight hundred thousand for the full group, with the exception of one: if you can bring me the short female with the comsat antennae, alive...she is worth five million." _I have to see her. I have to see what kind of monster could condone what was done to my Hase._

"But if she dies...only eighty thousand for the group."

"That much" Ada gave a low whistle. "I'm sure nothing will happen to her, sir." Her eyes laughed again.

"You'd better make sure it doesn't."

Ada extended her cyberarm to clench the deal, and he shook her hand. "The only catch is that there is _no_ time limit for this. I must have as much time as I need."

"Agreed."

She grinned. "Progress reports are due in at regular intervals, I assume?"

"Of course. You'll be given a contact within my household."

The grin widened. "As you wish, sir."

"Her name is Cullyn, but you will 'know' her as Lorelei Kohl, my cousin. Contact her at any time if you should need anything."

The woman sitting on the desk shifted her weight, then glanced at him.

"As you wish." Ada's eyes scanned the room once again. "If they are worth that much, I don't foresee a problem."

"Very good. I look forward to hearing from you." He stood, and the woman moved to escort her from the room. She let herself be led outside, then checked to make sure she wasn't being followed.

Ada took a taxi back to her hotel room, making certain to check it for bugs, then started in on the disk. There was little on it which she might be able to use...just a listing of all suspected Raven activities with a few notes on the hardsuits and other equipment.

"Hmm..." Ada started taking notes as she scrolled down. Most were obviously Genom-related, but one more eclectic file was highlighted.

It was apparently nothing special...a mugging outside a hotel. Some of the details seemed rather farfetched: victim attacked at random by cyberjunkies outside one of the nicer hotels in the city, all stolen items returned immediately - along with a note of apology! And a Raven had allegedly saved the intended victim, a Miss Shaine Kohl.

"Ah, what's this? Some sort of superhero syndrome?"

There were no images of the thing which had saved her, not even a description, but another file yielded photos of two burned-out jets...or Foo Fighters...which were believed to belong to the Ravens.

"Exploitable, perhaps..." The phone rang. "Hmm. Air support was destroyed, so how are they getting about now?"

She picked it up on the third ring. Habit. "Hello, Miss Ido?"

"Uhh, Miss Inho, if you please."

"Do you know who this is?"

"No, I don't, Why?"

"We know who you are, Miss Inho. We'd like to meet you."

"Of course. Here. Any time." She activated the voice recognition subroutine in her cyberarm.

"Do you know where Shabona Park is, Miss Inho?"

"No. I just arrived in town today - but I'm sure the cab driver will. Umm...could I have a name, please?"

"S. R. Aven."

" 'S. R. Aven'...gotcha." She wrote it down, and her eyes widened in surprise.

"Tonight at eight."

"What should I look for, or will you find me?"

"We will find you, but do dress warmly. It can get quite chilly outside. Good day, Miss Inho."

She grinned. "Of course, sir. Good day." She hung up.

_I wonder if I get extra if I tell Mr. Kohl about this... _

_Better see if I like them first._

///

Ada was at the park an hour early, with her gun, thirteen rounds of ammo, and one clip. She watched the people wander through the park, looking for anyone who might match the voice on the phone. There were only five of them and the park was huge: an indoor pool and three baseball fields, in addition to all of the open land.

She silently approached each of the people in turn, but none seemed a likely match: an old bag lady sleeping on a bench, two kids warming up, and a couple feeding the birds. Among the birds was an improbably huge crow or raven.

At about ten to eight, the park's lights went off and the people wandered off. _Oh, well. Worth a try. _A thick fog rolled in.

"Miss Inho."

"Yes, Mr. Aven?" She turned to see a tall figure with pale face and leather trenchcoat, sunglasses covering his eyes.

"Yes, but you may call me Steel. How are you tonight?"

"I'm well."

"It seems an old friend of mine has hired you." _Either he's awfully pale or he's wearing some kind of makeup...there's something really off about him._

"Are you sure?" _This guy is definitely bad news!_

"Yes, a Mr. Kohl and a Ms. Kant."

"Oh, yes. I talked with him today."

"It seems they want you to find me."

"That sums it up."

"Here I am."

"Where are the rest of you?"

He smiled. "Oh...they're around." A large, black bird landed on his shoulder.

"Caw, caw!"

"Riight."

"Ah, my daughter. Say hello, my dear." It gave her a dirty look.

_Huh? This guy isn't just out of touch, he's on a different goddamned planet!_

"I have a counteroffer. Erik wants you to find us..."

Ada glared back in cautious defense. "Yes?"

"You have found us, but there is no way you will be able to stop us or turn us over to him."

"I have no intention at the present to do either."

He grinned and produced a CD player. Her conversation with Erik played back. "As you can see, I have great doubts as to the truthfulness of that."

"You believe that? I don't know... What I say to a potential employer and what I do are sometimes entirely different. Still, I'm listening to your counteroffer."

"Simple. You'll take Erik's money; he has far too much to burn. And you hunt us. We'll make a game of it: if you beat us, we're yours to turn over to Erik. If not, you become ours. Sound fair?"

_I like this guy! _"Hm. Your offer is...intriguing. I think I like it! But to even it out, I think I should meet the rest - hardsuited or not."

"In time, each in their own turn. One a night from here on out."

"Seeing as how I have no love for Genom, agreed." She extended her cyberhand.

"Ahhh, we shall see." He shook hands, and his flesh was cold. There was a small spark of static electricity.

"And for good faith, I will let you meet someone tonight. Heel, Jade, heel!"

A female figure descended from the sky, its figure vaguely human but its frame covered by ebony black fur. Her eyes were a golden yellow.

"Pleased to meet you...Jade, isn't it?"

She growled. "It is a pleasssssure... You work for Erik?"

"Jade is our guard cat; she likes to eat trespassers."

"Really? Well, then, I'll just watch my step." Her smartgun began targeting. "It isn't often that I meet such...unusual people in one night. Temporarily, perhaps."

"She has many weaponssss," Jade said insistently. "The oil is on her handssssss..."

"Down, girl!"

"I wouldn't have expected any less from a group of high-tech vigilantes."

"Yes, well, Genom brings it upon themselves. They are their own worst enemies. If I may ask...what brought you here to them?" The cat disappeared from sight.

"Money, mostly. My cyberarm needs repair after my last job. See, right here there's a damaged servo that..." She blinked. "That sticks when I most need it." Ada raised her gun arm.

"Minor repairs. Are you really willing to sell your soul to Genom for that?"

"What do you mean?"

He placed his hand over the barrel. "This could be fixed anywhere for far less, yet you go to Genom? Of course, the hidden gun _is_ a nice touch."

"It's gotten me out of many a scrape. You seem like one who enjoys heavy weapons."

"There is much you do not know. Try not to fill it in with assumptions."

"Of course."

"Good. Now if you'll excuse me, I must finish walking Jade before she eats someone."

"Indeed. Um...one last question..."

"Yes?"

"What do you mean, minor repairs? This will cost $15,000! Do you know where I could get it fixed decently for cheaper?"

"Yes, I do."

"Ahh, but will you tell me is the real question."

He laughed. "Yes, that is the real question. Maybe tomorrow night?"

"Okay. 'Til then?"

" 'Til then..." He walked away into the fog, which then disappeared.

"Creepy...but nice touch..." It became a perfect, clear spring night.

"Well, 'We have met the enemy, and they are ours.' 'Twas fun, but he didn't leave his card."

A raven flapped by, dropping a business card into her hand:

_S. R. Aven, Superhero_

_555-RAVEN_

"Of course."

///

Ada received another call from Mr. Aven the next night. "Good evening, Miss Inho. Would you like to meet with us tonight?"

"Very well."

"Same place, same time. 'Til then, Miss Inho, have a good evening."

"Very well. See you then." The phone went dead. She heard a funny little click, then the normal dial tone. "Hmm..." She checked for bugs, but there didn't seem to be any.

The day went by rather quickly; she cleaned her gun to pass the time and loaded it with fifteen rounds, hiding a clip in her cyberarm. She then phone room service for a cup of coffee and went down to the park.

It was near empty, save for a few black birds in the trees, and seemed far larger than the night before. She sat down on a bench near the birds, _For good luck, I guess._

At about 7:57, the fog rolled in again. She took a sip of her coffee. "Ahh, that's better. Who or what am I meeting now?"

A set of heavy footsteps approached from within the fog. She stood and drained her cup.

"You're meeting another one of my children," The voice was right behind her, literally in her ear.

"Ah, hello, Mr. Steel."

"It is a pleasure to see you again, Miss Inho."

"Are you well, Mr. Steel?"

"Yes, quite well; thank you. I bring before you one of my favorite children: Morgan."

"Salutations, Morgan." She was a twentysomething, short woman, Goth, with black hair dyed blood red. She wore a leather top and leopard print skirt, and there was a snake or perhaps a dragon tattooed around her arm just above the elbow.

'Morgan' nodded and Ada raised an eyebrow.

"Morgan is our combat and dark arts person," Aven added.

" 'Dark Arts'...?" Morgan just smiled.

"I'll leave the two of you alone to get acquainted." Aven faded back into the mists.

"Well, Morgan, it seems as if Genom has a price on your head."

"Play it cool," Crimson warned on the comms. "She's just trying to psych you out. We're here if you need us."

"Yeah, yeah," Shaine replied. "Really, Miss Inho?"

Ada grinned. "Yes, It seems that a Mr. Kohl has a distinct..._problem_ with your organization."

She noticeably stiffened. "I...see."

The grin got wider. "I believe it was...$800,000 for the group, and $5,000,000 for the one with antennae on her head."

"Shoot, for me?" Belladonna said over the comms. "I didn't know he cared."

"_Bell!_" the others howled.

"Not you, you dumbass," Shaine muttered over the comms.

"Sorrrryyy..."

Ada's teeth were exposed, her grin was so wide.

"Did he tell you why so much for that one?" _If he knows..._

The grin faded slightly. "He said it was important to him of her survival."

"Great, she's worth more than all of us combined," Lark mourned.

"Cut the chatter! Shaine, see if you can find out more about his plans."

"I feel so unwanted..."

"Me too," Sprocket said. "Let's steal her helmets!"

"Oh," Shaine replied faintly after a long pause. "I can assure you she has no such concern for him."

"Such concern is usually not mutual."

"And what do you know about it?" Shaine snapped.

"Oh, nothing, really. I'm just the person sent to collect."

A bit of a smile. "Ah. So what has he told you about us?"

The grin expanded to 'ear to ear' classification. "All he could."

She chuckled. "All of a five minute presentation, I imagine."

"Indeed."

"Which is mostly false, and all hearsay. But enjoyable...funny, how we know more about him than he knows about us." Crim added. One of the ravens flew to a new tree.

"This is a nice city you have. Genom must hate that."

"I'm sure."

"So, why does Genom see you people as such a threat?"

"You'd have to ask them. We only clean up after their messes."

"Kohl wasn't too verbal about it."

"He isn't too verbal about anything when he's using someone."

The grin faded a little again. "Hmmm?"

"He fancies himself the Cancer Man to our Lone Gunmen. Drop a few clues here and there...never the full story, not to anyone who is..._beneath_ him."

"I'm not familiar with the reference, but I get the picture."

It was Shaine's turn to smile. "I can see why he chose you. You look so like one of his Boomers...he really goes for the short ones, you know. But, then, I hear he doesn't like humans as much."

The grin faded more. "This arm wasn't my choice."

"Ah, too bad."

"Pardon."

She shook her head. "Just thinking that with your mercenary attitude you might last to see another spring. Most of his toys don't last more than six months."

"Hmmm..."

"But if you're not interested, that makes things...well, interesting..." She fought the urge to laugh.

"...Interested?"

A wide grin. "Oh, I suppose I should let him tell you that himself..." _And to think I learned to lie from him..._

"What?"

"Well, it's just..."

"...Yes?"

She bowed her head a little and chuckled. "He likes short women. That's why the five million."

Ada shuddered. "Ugh."

"Of course, with _you_ around he gets two for the price of one."

"Hentai...bastard..."

"Yes. And a few other things, but Japanese isn't my language and I'm guessing German isn't yours."

"You would be right."

"So how long have you and Erik been seeing each other...?"

_Bleh._ "I just received this job offer this week."

"Hm...so soon for a new play toy...well," Shaine smiled absentmindedly. "She must hot have been very good in bed."

Ada growled almost imperceptibly. "I wouldn't know."

Shaine smiled as a raven fluttered down next to her, utterly calm and relaxed. "Caw!"

_Now, that's just wrong..._

"Caw, awa caw..." It bobbed its head up and down, giving Ada the evil eye. She glared back at it and it picked at its feathers.

Shaine smiled more. "Oh, don't worry...she's a good girl. Doesn't bite."

"_You_, anyway..."

"But she doesn't like you."

"Well. That's a surprise."

"I don't like you either...much." Shaine whistled a tune to the raven. _I got a fear of flying on a plane/Cause we got no say in how it ends up/Well, in my mind, love's the very same way..._

"Caw?!"

"I wasn't expecting a warm welcome." The raven flew off, doing a few tricks in midair and finally landing on Ada's shoulder.

She watched it very carefully, not making any sudden moves. "What's it doing?"

"_Caw!_"

"Just saying hello."

"Awa, caw!" It sounded like it was laughing at her, and its head bobbed up and down.

"What's so funny, bird?" It moved up her shoulder, drawing closer to her head."

"It thinks it's funny that Erik would send you!" Belladonna called out, and Shaine repeated her. "And it hopes to feast on your eyes...after we're done, of course."

Ada moved her head away slightly. "Why?"

"And it hopes to peck out your eyes," Shaine said idly. "After _we're_ done with you, of course."

"Caw, caw!"

"Be good, little one."

"She's _got_ to be freaking!" Bell said. "Come on and crack!"

"Pleasant thought, that. Remind me to send it to the Hacker's Digest BBS."

"Oh, you hack?" Shaine's eyes lit up.

"When it's needed for a job, yes. I've even hacked Genom before." The raven eyed its master, and then Ada.

"Mmm."

"_Caw, caw, caw!_" It flapped its wings.

"I was bored; what can I say?"

"Genom, Majestic 13, FBI, CIA, IRS, INS...and a few other TLA's," Shaine catalogued. The raven flew to her shoulder, still irate. "It's all right, dear. I know you don't like that word..."

"Hmm...have you ever killed someone online?"

_Every day - in my RPG._ Shaine's eyes flickered up toward her. "I never much looked back to check."

Ada chuckled. "I fried a jockey Genom had working for them by accident. The fool had brainjacked in."

"Higgins." Crimson said. "Damn. Good kid, could've matched your class one day."

"He wasn't the first, either. Seems more and more BIC have decided to wire their techies to their computers."

"One day she should be so lucky, she can try hacking R-A-V-E-N," Bell pouted. "See how cocky she'd be after that."

Crimson smiled slowly. "Upload, satlink Nest 1A."

"Not the good ones," Shaine muttered.

Ada winked. "I know. I think the 'I' stands for idiot."

"Raven, hack her profile. Wargame RA-1. Give her something to think about. ...And RA-2 and 5."

"Ah," Shiane muttered over comms. "I always thought it was Bucolic Imbeciles Clusterfuck..."

"Oh, and add a back door for Freefall, voice activation only. ...Not too far from the truth, Shaine; I'll check on the spelling for you."

"Awa, caw?" The bird nuzzled its master.

Footsteps sounded behind them. "Hmmm...company?"

"Having a good time, my pretties?" Aven asked.

"Of course."

Ada thought she could see huge wings fold down into his coat. "Ah, good, good. We must learn to play nicely..." Shaine pursed her lips. "I'm sorry, but Morgan and I are needed elsewhere."

"And fairly," Ada added, "Else no one has any fun. ...Boomer?"

"No, dinner. But I'm sure Erik will send a Boomer to play with us soon. There are so few on the streets anymore."

"Ah, the age-old battlecry of the stomach. I think Napoleon was right."

"Yes...an army does march on it." He tossed a Boomer's head at her feet. It was freshly ripped from a rogue body, from what Ada could tell, with a smashed core.

A cold glint appeared in her eyes. "Thanks for the trophy."

"You're very welcome. Perhaps Erik would like for you to see such a thing firsthand, in preparation? His pet Hase is about to go rogue. She'll do nicely for a demo."

"Mmm...I don't think I've met her?"

"He might have called her Bunny," Shaine said.

"Or Moon Child," Crimson added.

"Tall, blond hair, skin too pale to be natural...barcode tattoo on one leg."

"Oh, her. I didn't like the way she looked at me." 

This brought a perverse grin to Aven's face. "Yes, she's been known to take part of a human or two. Likes them raw, with a light dipping sauce."

Shaine chuckled softly. "Just a bit hungry, are we?"

"We really must go. Mother Raven hates when dinner goes cold."

"Oh. See you tomorrow?"

"Yes, you will." The fog thickened and they were gone.

"That's a nice trick."

She thought she saw a bird the size of a jet flap overhead - and thunder...or was it a thundering caw?

///

"Impressions, Freefall?"

Shaine sat back and exhaled sharply. "I think I got to her. I hope I did..."

"Oh, I'm sure you hit home."

"But _what was that about the dipping sauce?_"

"But is she wondering how far the rabbit hole goes? She seemed calm at the end."

"Yeah."

"She's as nuts as Harris!" Bell exclaimed. "Man, I'd freak at the wings, and Psycho Bird over there...and the eye thing...mannnnn... I wanted my mommy, and I had my helmet on!"

Morrigan stared at her. "Caaw!"


	2. Hase no Sainan

Hase no Sainan

Hase no Sainan  
_By Ada, Mitch, Shaine, and Shatterclaw. Individual rating: PG-13._

Ada stood outside Genom Tower, waiting for Kohl to arrive. Her eyes flickered toward the lake and the art museum; a group of fifteen were walking across the lawn of the museum. One walked up to a bus, pulling out a machine gun, and shot the passengers.

_Boomers...? Doesn't matter. They're going to die._

An exploding car lit up a familiar figure: the woman from Kohl's office. _Bunny._ Ada's lips pulled back into a grimace. 

The figure stood in the middle of the lawn, having stepped away from the destruction, and with an utterly calm expression said very simply: "This will end when you bring me the Steel Ravens." The people milling around forgot about their cars and began stampeding away from the Boomers.

Hearing more explosions, Ada ran to her hotel room to pick up weapons and armor, forgetting about her meeting inside the Tower. 

_So many innocents dying, just for this..._

_I don't think so._

///

Belladonna lolled in front of the big screen in the rec room, a bowl of sugar-drenched Mage Puffs not too far from her face. Ravencroft's beak poked tentatively at the cereal.

"Nooo, Ravencroft! You'll be sick for a _week_, and I'm in trouble with Crimson as it is!" The raven's eyes narrowed and it stepped away at the mention of Crimson's displeasure.

Bell took a big bite and hummed happily as she flipped through the channels - then suddenly stopped. Her eyes widened and the spoon fell to the bowl.

"Ohmygod_ohmyGOD!_ I don't believe it!" The news broadcast cut to a shot of the art museum, and she rushed for the phone. 

"Crimson, Belladonna. Channel five _NOW_, yeah, yeah, I'm on it, yeah, _out!_" She ran to his office and hit a red button on the desk. Klaxons began to sound throughout the base.

Shaine forced her eyes open. "Huuunh?

"Pleh." She rolled out of bed and ran to get into her suit. Lark and Hugo ran past her door as she walked out; Saki and Jinks were right behind them, and none of them looked very awake.

_Shit, it's a real emergency this time..._

Sprocket vaulted out of the changing room just as Shaine arrived, still trying to pull on her measuring suit. Belladonna was already waiting in the hardsuit room, fully armored.

"Guys, not to alarm you or anything, but Hase has gone nuts."

Shaine's eyes widened. "Didn't think she knew how to do that."

Bell shot her a look. 

"Come on, the Ice Queen?"

"She's Erik's girlfriend, come _on_..."

"Girlfriend? Damn..."

"Yeah, well, she's tearing up the downtown area, and wants us to come join the party. Fifty-four dead and a hundred wounded so far, with the ADP just getting there."

"Hunh. Sounds like her. But somehow I can't imagine her going down on him...it'd take five Boomers just to get her to crack a smile..."

"Fifteen Boomers," Belladonna continued, "So far as we know, and there may be more."

"Well okay, maybe she's smiling..."

"_And_ she said she's rigged the city with bombs."

"Aw shit!"

"And if we don't show the only thing left standing will be her. Hugo, Crim's gonna meet us there. He said rig a Motoslave with the Crimson Complex."

"Crimson Complex?"

"Yeah, it's a program that makes the slaves act as a leader for up to three more of 'em based off of him and his brain waves or something. He wants two of 'em to go look after Rai and Harris... Oh and he wants all of the Wings to be remote in case of crashes. And ours is to be loaded with bombs... We got ten minutes to get out of here and I've only got the four slaves on board."

Shaine went pale.

"Oh and it gets better...we have no clue as to what kind of Boomers we're dealing with. Sat scans are coming up empty."

"Oh, shit..."

"Well as my friend Poe would say, today is a good day to die." The others were pouring into the room by that time, already in suits.

"Yes, if it's someone else doing it..."

"If we make it, Shaine, I'll let him know."

///

Mitch sat in the ADP break room with a cup of coffee when Lieutenant Jamson walked in wearing flak armor. "Didn't you hear, Wolfstone?"

"What?" He sipped his coffee, still calm.

"There's a hostage situation down at the art museum, with Boomers involved. The Chief asked for every man we've got. They're making demands that the 'Steel Ravens' meet them down there...it's all been on the news. Don't just sit there, man! Let's get moving!"

"No problem. I'll get my flak jacket and meet you there."

"Fine. Hey, and break a leg." Jamson ran off.

When Mitch got to his car, he noticed that the Boomer Jacob wasn't there. Frowning, he dialed Crim's number on his cell phone.

Crimson picked up on the first ring. "Hello?"

"Crim, it's Mitch."

"I take it you got the wake-up call. Are you working?"

"The whole ADP is down at the art museum; I don't see a way to leave without being noticed."

"Do your job there. I'll have your suit ready, and when the Boomers go after the ADP you can break for it and we'll pick you up. Get your men away from the fighting if you can."

"Gotcha."

"It's a personal battle. Hase Kant, one of Erik's people, is calling us out."

"That tin-plated whore!"

"If we don't go the city will be destroyed. ...Yeah, that she is. Duty calls." He hung up.

Jenkins rode shotgun with Mitch on the way to the art museum. "Man, of all the luck...having to deal with this today. These Boomers want us to pull a rabbit out of our hats and give them something that's not even real!"

"Yeah."

"I mean, who are these Titanium Ducks anyway?"

Mitch smiled a little. "I know."

As they approached the museum a gunshot shattered the car's back window. "The big boys are starting trouble, eh...well, they're going to have to clean up the mess."

"Yeah, well, it's our turn to show the big boys this is our city." Jenkins jumped out of the car.

Mitch followed with his revolver out; ahead of them were an overturned ADP truck and a female combat Boomer. The Boomer's right arm had been replaced with a gun and she was firing at anything that moved. Mitch lept for the back seat of the car, grabbing his microwave jammer.

His first shot hit the truck. The second also missed, but hit another Boomer. Finally Mitch nailed the Boomer near the truck and she thrashed about on the ground before exploding. The explosion set off her ammunition and debris flew through the air.

"Do you see any more?" Mitch called to Jenkins.

"What the hell was that? No, no more from here." The rest of the ADP were trying to move from a pinned-down position behind the wreck to something more advantageous. "So what was that you hit her with? A magic wand?"

"It looks like she just exploded." Gunfire rang out, and a Wing flew overhead. "Look!"

"Oh, man, now what? You think those are...what did she call them, Steel Ducks? Steel Terns?" 

Jenkins began to stammer. "And heck, they're _real_..."

///

Hugo flew low toward the center of the park. "I'm not even going to decloak; I suggest you don't either. Just cloak and fight 'til it runs out."

"She's very cold in a fight," Shaine warned, "So don't expect her emotions to get in the way. I don't think she has any."

The back doors of the Wing opened and the Ravens jumped out, followed by four Motoslaves with heavy guns. Moments later, Crimson's arrival was heralded by an exploding Boomer.

"Hey, Freefall," Belladonna said, "What does 'Hase' mean anyway?"

"Um...it's 'rabbit.' Or 'bunny.' "

"Rabbit? Bunny?"

"Um, yeah."

"_Fighting evil by moonlight...winning love by daylight...never running from a real fight...she is the one named Sailormoon!_" 

Hase turned, a faint ghost of an expression upon her face.

"What's the matter, Bunny Rabbit, don't like your namesake? Thought you look more like an evil queen than Usagi!"

///

"Damn!" A Boomer flew over Mitch's head, followed by an uncloaked Raven. The Raven took out the Boomer's head in midair and the body fell on Mitch's car. He ran for cover as the other ADP scattered, then saw a form in black waving to him from an alleyway.

"Motoslave Unit Three reporting, sir. Orders from Crimson are to suit up and give cover fire."

Mitch laughed. "Hey, do you know where I can find someone named Wolverine?"

"Yes, sir, I believe I am looking at him. Code received."

Mitch suited up and the Motoslave closed around him. It was big enough that he could extend his claws without damaging it, and he did so.

"Please, sir, return the laser claws to the retracted position until reaching the combat area."

"No problem." They hissed back into his suit's arms and the Motoslave took to the air. Mitch saw another combat Boomer which had pinned down a small group of frontline officers and was about to fire her heat cannon.

"Grrrrr..." Mitch used the slave's gun; she staggered and then turned to see him.

The Boomer opened its mouth and a deep glow shone from within. The blast from her mouth gun barely missed him, and he fired again. The rail burst hit as she leapt toward him and her shoulder exploded.

Mitch could see the air shimmer around the Boomer as she prepared to fire again. He fired again, aiming for the cannon's reactor, and she exploded. Boomer parts rained down upon the ADP officers.

Another Boomer came at him from behind, wrapping his arms around Mitch. Mitch extended his claws as far as he could but still couldn't reach it while still within the Motoslave.

"_Grrrrrr!_" Mitch saw a red button flashing on the inside surface of the slave; he pressed it and the suit ejected. The Boomer howled, dropping the empty husk, and Mitch charged toward it.

He first sliced the Boomer's head open, creating a large rent in its armor. One of the Boomer's arms flew out toward him and he dodged to the right. The Boomer missed, and Mitch's claws slid in further. It opened its mouth to reveal a laser cannon and Mitch decapitated it cleanly with a single slice. The Boomer's power feed gave way, and Mitch felt a bit of it even through the suit.

_Not too much damage...good. Slight power drain, and left claws won't retract. _

Mitch glanced up from his HUD to see the Boomer feeling around, looking for its head. It gingerly approached a police car, then began fusing with it. He strode up to it, slicing through its chest and revealing the core. He ripped it out with a growl, and what was left of Boomer and car fell over in a heap.

He laughed. Some of the other officers were staring at him; one yelled, "It's a Boomer! Fire!"

Mitch cloaked and flew off through a hail of anti-Boomer bullets.

///

Hase raised her HK and pointed it in the direction of the mocking voice. "Come here and say that again." Her own voice showed signs of strain.

Belladonna ran at her, still cloaked, and hit her combat armor with a resounding _ping_. "Ohhh, you're going to pay, Bunny-bun-bun... In the name of the Moon and the Raven I will punish you!"

Hase snarled and opened fire.

"Or just make you really annoyed," Belladonna continued, taking out several Boomers with a spray of laser fire. She hit Hase again with a kick to the back. "Hey, Freefall, what do you call a rabbit in a pot?"

Hase whirled around to face Belladonna.

"Aw, Bell...enough with the bad jokes, eh?" 

A woman in a red dress approached, carrying what seemed to be a pistol with silencer and firing at Hase.

"Naaaw, I like my new Bunny toy...ain't that right, Bunny?" She hit Hase again.

"Come out where I can see you or the city dies!"

"Shut yer ass, Bast-itch!" Ada Inho snarled. She opened fire again taking out the shoulder of Hase's armor.

Hase saw a large, male Raven decloak in front of her. "You'll never get away with it." She took a step back. "You see? I warned Erik there would always be humans who will take up this fight."

"And she'll die for it."

"Not on my watch." Crimson swept her. "This is _my_ city, Genom lackey. _Mine._ Call off your Boomers and I'll let you live to see justice."

"No. I've still got a little trophy to collect for the _real_ master of this city. Give me the girl and I'll call them off."

Crimson tried to punch her; she rolled, neatly avoiding both his fist and another round from Ada. She stood again and fired at Crimson as Ada was distracted by another combat Boomer.

Crimson fired his cable daggers, but hesitated, seeing that Lark was in trouble. Hase dodged again, tucking down into a roll to avoid Ada again. The cables hit, sending a mild shock through her body, and she dragged Crimson down on top of her. Ada's bullets washed over the back of Crimson's armor, but it held. He tore himself free and fired his jet verniers, heading for Lark

"Hey, Bunny-bun-bun...what's the matter? Didn't get your lettuce today?" 

Hase hissed at Belladonna.

"Bunny-bun-bun..."Ada fired again while she was distracted. "Or should I call you Queen Bunny?" Hase leapt toward Belladonna's voice, avoiding damage through sheer serendipity. Her armored hands found Bell's helmet and clawed at it.

"_Bad Bunny!_" Belladonna's laser sword extended.

"I swear," Hase gasped, "Erik has the _worst_ taste..."

"Oh, and you're one to talk, bitch!" Shaine grabbed on to Hase from behind, pulling her off of Belladonna. Hase's arms reached back to grab her.

"Yeah, it shows," Ada added. "Didn't he choose you, after all?"

Belladonna's sword slid down toward Hase's damaged shoulder but missed as she continued to struggle with Shaine.

"Hey, Bunny, know what a Raven really eats?" More of Hase's armor exploded as Ada hit again and Belladonna hit her with a knuckle bomber blast to the head. She was dazed, but still able to continue clawing at the helmet seals. Shaine's eye could be seen through her cracked faceplate.

Ada turned again to destroy another Boomer as Shaine began swearing in German. She whipped around, trying to shake Hase loose as the helmet flew to the ground.

"_OH, FUCK!_"

Hase and Shaine stood wordlessly, facing each other, as Ada shot again. Belladonna tried to kick Hase out of the way, taking Ada's attack herself. She fell, slightly dazed.

"Dammit!"

The ADP began breaking through, and Shaine brought her arms up reflexively to hide her face.

"You guys want the ADP gone?" Ada asked.

"_Yes!_" Shaine dove toward the remains of her helmet.

Ada grinned. "Good."

"Gee, that would help." Lark said. "Oh, wait - they do the whole 'kill the Boomer' thing..."

Ada used her cyberarm to punch down a nearby tree, sending it into the path of the oncoming ADP, then turned to fire again at Hase, who was almost hit by a Motoslave.

_Last round of railgun ammo...here's hoping it works!_ But it was melted in midair by a Boomer's heat cannon.

"Stop her! She knows who she is! _If she knows, Erik knows!_"

Crimson appeared out of nowhere and stepped into Hase's path. "You're not going to leave us, are you, Hase?"

She stared up at him, face entirely impassive.

"This ends now." Two laser swords slid from his arms. She swerved and ran in another direction as a pair of Boomers charged Crimson.

"Damn!" He sliced their heads off, then turned in Hase's direction to see Ada already pursuing her.

"You're not getting away from _me_, Bast-itch!"

"Hugo, ready the beam cannons. I want to see a Boomer scrap pile." The ground around Ada exploded as Crimson barked out his orders. "All Ravens, stop Hase, first and foremost."

"Ayiiii!" Ada gritted her teeth as fire from a female Boomer set the ground around her on fire. "_Dammit!_" She rolled away and fired at it.

Only feet away from her transport, Hase looked up to see a black plane which had appeared out of the ether. It fired and the transport exploded. Crimson grabbed her from behind as Ada aimed her smartgun at the Boomer and her stryker gun at Hase.

"When you get to the ghost realm, tell Erik he's next." Hase brought her elbows back, smashing them into Crimson's hardsuit. Her front armor fell to Ada, but Crimson took a step back, winded.

"Kill her!"

"That's my line, thank you," Crimson joked.

Hase whirled around and hit him with doubled fists. Shaine rushed forward, knocking Crimson into the path of Ada's fire. "She's _mine!_"

Crimson's helmet was gone. "Well, cover his face!" Ada retorted.

"That was a new HUD, bitch!"

Shaine added her own editorial in German, leaping on top of Hase. Hase grabbed her and used her jet verniers to propel them to the roof of the art museum. Ada began swearing in Japanese.

_She never gives up, _Crimson thought.

"Oh, really, whore?" Hase drawled.

"Look who's talking, Cyberslut!"

"Ravens, reform. Hugo, roof, now. Motoroids, sound off."

"Unit One, _bzzzzzzz_..."

"Shit. I liked Unit One." Crimson frowned. "Inho, _shut up_."

"At least I stay bought!" Hase called down to her.

"I was never paid!"

"And if you're going to help, try _not_ hitting the ones in black." Crimson's wings popped out and he flew to the roof. "Let her go, Hase. She'll only bring you death if you try to use her against us."

"I've tasted death before. Bitter. Doesn't scare me," Hase mused. "And if I take her with me, you'll all die."

Ada started walking away, muttering something in Japanese.

"I'm sure, but we're everywhere." Hase looked around her. "Yes, more Ravens than these."

She radioed for more Boomers; Ada suddenly saw one crawling out of the ground toward her. Hase was beginning to feel a distinctly unpleasant half-numbness in her legs. 

"Yeah, right," Ada said, shooting the Boomer in the head. The rest began leaping for the roof.

"You don't want her, Hase."

"Spoken like a Raven! If you had any loyalties at all you'd never say that." Shaine spit out a few more obscenities at this.

"Hase, I'm the one you want. I'll trade my life for the girl's."

Hase stared at him blankly as another Raven flew towards them from the ADP front.

"You know I'm worth more to Erik than she is. In fact, I'm worth more than all of them."

"Don't flatter yourself. To Genom, maybe. Not to him."

_I knew I should've brought the Big-Assed Model. _Ada sighed. _Damned incompetent ADP._

"Hase...I made them. Everything you see here is because of me." Crimson grinned as the newcomer barreled toward Hase.

"You want me, little bird?" She extended the laser sword in the undamaged left arm of her suit. "_Come on_."

"You talk too much!" Mitch slashed at the arm, but she parried and tried to kick him. He managed to rip away a piece of armor over her leg, but then something slammed into his back. 

He fell toward the other end of the slated roof but quickly recovered, ripping open the chest of the Boomer which had attacked him. It was fused with an ADP stomach gun, which it fired at his chest. The shot went wide, scratching the side of Mitch's suit.

The Boomer raised its arm to reveal a blade running alongside it. Mitch reached in as it raised the blade, tearing out its core before it could react, and threw the core at Hase. It exploded as it hit the ground before her feet. "Here's your boy!"

The core was soon followed by a rail burst coming from the sky behind her. Something on one end of the burst flared out, forming a roselike shape.

Hase craned her neck around, staring into the sky. "No..."

A massive EMP burst hit the roof, sparing the Ravens but utterly destroying all of the Boomers.

"_Fucking children! Why couldn't you stay back in kindergarten?_" The sheer rage in her expression was unlike anything she had shown before.

"Niiice," Crimson commented. "Friends of yours, Hase? We're of the same breed, you know."

A black and white, tuxedo-like hardsuit touched down on the roof.

///

Ada sat down on the hood of an ADP squad car and began cleaning her gun. "They need help. The Boomers' ringleader is up there."

Jenkins looked at her. "And who are you?"

"Just get up there. What are you waiting for?"

"The choppers! There's something moving this way and it's_ huge!_"

"No wonder the people want to shut you down," Ada moaned. "You can climb stairs, can't you?"

"Lady, if I had the men to go up there I would. But I've had a really bad day - seems a 90% death rate will do that to you..."

"I'll go with you."

"_Shit!_" Jenkins grabbed a gun and followed the lady in red.

///

"_I_ am Sailormoon! And on behalf of the Moon I will right wrongs and triumph over Genom's evil! And that means _you_, Chibi-Reject!"

"Chibi-Reject?" the Ravens chorused.

"Damn, why didn't I think of that line?" Bell wailed.

Hase fired at 'Sailormoon' but the hardsuited figure easily dodged. "Where the fuck is that helicopter?" she shouted into her suit radio.

"Twelve are on the way," the reply came.

"Not good enough. _Now_." A massive Doberman Boomer and many smaller Boomers landed on the roof.

"Ravens, let's go!" Crimson barked.

Right behind them were the nine new hardsuits, most of them modeled after sailor senshi fukus. "We are the Moonlight Knights! And we fight for love and _justice!_"

"The Nega-forces of Genom cannot stand against _us_, Meatball Head!" another jeered.

"I hear _that!_" Belladonna said.

"Bell, fan club later, fight more," Lark called.

"What," Shaine asked, "Did Starbright buy out Cartoon Network or something?"

"Star-what? Never heard of them"

"Whoops...my bad."

"It's over." Crimson stood before Hase solemnly. 

'Sailormoon' went to his side. "Who are you?" she asked timidly.

He turned to her. "I'm Birdman." Then he fired a cable dagger at Shaine's legs. The cable wrapped around her and he pulled.

Hase's grip on the Raven failed. "Well, then...enjoy what you have!" There was an inexplicable note of bitterness in her voice. "I can tell you you're not getting any more from me."

"Now, Moon...we finish her."

Before Crimson could attack, the Doberman strode up to Hase and growled. Ada and Jenkins had just gotten to the roof, and both opened fire on it.

"Shaine, saber strike!" The sound of a helicopter could be heard very faintly above the melee. "All Ravens, _fire!_"

Crimson activated his suit's phone link. "Yeah, it's me. Yes, access code Raven One, love forever..."

A crackle came forth from the sky, setting it on fire. The Doberman was bathed in red light. "Everyone to the other end of the roof. _Move_, people!"

"I am!" Ada called.

The Doberman let out a cry and exploded. The Wing hovered near the roof and the stunned Ravens and Knights.

Hase was nowhere in sight.

"Everyone in a hardsuit, _get in the Wing_." Crimson turned to Ada. "You're coming with us too."

"But..."

"No buts. Your life is over; Hase won't rest until she gets her hands on you."

"Damn."

"And after what you did today...I refuse to let her. Get in."

"Look, I'm sorry for shooting you guys? Now may I please go back to my hotel?"

"No. We'll take care of your things and you'll go to a safe house, for now."

"Greeeat."

Crimson turned to face Jenkins. "Nice seeing you, officer."

"B-but you're dead..._we saw you die!_"

"That's right. I'm just one of the many ghosts of Chicago. That's what a raven is: the spirit of the dead brought back to this world.

"And we have more of your men among us now..." He stepped into the Wing and it vanished from sight.

///

"All riiight!" Mitch stood by the side of the aisle...there weren't enough seats for both the Ravens and their new allies.

"What's your name?" asked the one in the green and pink suit.

"Wolverine. Who are you?"

"I'm Sailorjupiter. Um...nice claw you've got there... Know where you guys are taking us?"

"I'd shake your hand but I'm having a problem with retracting this!"

"I see," she replied nervously.

"We're going to the Nest."

"The Nest? What's that?"

"You were the one with the lightning, right?"

"That's me...you were the one with the Boomer that was firing at me?"

"Yeah, sorry." Mitch grinned sheepishly beneath his helmet. "I get a little crazy in the middle of a battle. That's why they call me Wolverine."

"Nice to see you're on our side!"

Mitch laughed. "Yeah, that lightning was pretty impressive..."

"Thanks. Artemis came up with it. Pretty good at long range."

"Who's Artemis?"

"He's our nerd boy. One on the left, all in white and looks like a cat."

"Ah. We have Jinks for that kind of thing."

"Well, I hope she does a better job than the name implies!"

"It's a joke!" Jinks called from behind Jupiter.

"When she was young..."

"Hey, watch it, fuzzy, or your claw will _stay_ that way."

"Now she is very capable..."

"That's better!"

Jupiter laughed. "Yeah, I can see that!"

The back door of the wing opened. "Well, here we are...welcome to the desert of the real."


	3. A Knight in the Raven's Nest

A Knight in the Raven's Nest  
_By Ada, Shaine, and Shatterclaw. Individual rating: PG-13._

_2:14pm, the day before._

The sun shone thorough the grey-streaked sky as rain threatened yet again. Luna's foul mood darkened at though of having to drive in the rain yet again; it seemed every driver in the city slowed to a stop when it rained. She knew she'd been out gathering information for far too long and she knew Artemis would throw a fit over that. The tall, lean blonde was her right hand man, and knew more than humanly possible about the team's gear and tech, but when it came to the business end of things he didn't have a clue. He was a scientist, and every thing was trivial to him unless it had to do with hardsuits or computers.

"Come to Chicago, track your mortal Enemy, get lost at ever other intersection," She muttered to herself. Luna managed to pull into the parking lot of the rented office building only ten minutes late. The windows had been painted black and the door had been replaced with a steel reinforced security door. Home sweet temporary home. Luna looked around the empty street. With no one in sight, she leaned into the door and spoke: "By the power of the Moon, I will punish you." The steel door rumbled and swung open. Luna knew that there were guns above her head, and had she misspoken they would have left her dead.

The walls were bare but for a coat of hospital-like, puke green paint. Didn't matter. After they found Hase, they would head back home. The hall led into a dead end, with only a painting of a moonscape to mark the wall as drifferent from any of the other pale green walls. Luna pulled out her headband. Another one of Artemis' toys, it was adorned by a crescent moon which fell at the center of the forehead. It transmitted one's thoughts - in this case, the codeword to proceed further - and the wall open to an elevator. Unlike the door and the "thought band," the elevator was old and nearing the end of its days. It took her down to the basement, where they had lived for the last few days. Van Allen was sitting at a used kitchen table, feet propped up on a second chair and reading a local news paper's sports page. Artemis was playing with one of the hardsuits.

"Well _As-I-Live-And-Breathe_, look what the cat dragged in. Any mice today?" Van Allen called from behind the sports page.

"No, and it's rabbit were after... Did you find anything? Or just waste more time?" Luna said tartly as she took off her coat.

"Oh, ouch," Van Allen used his best "hurt" face. "But as a matter of fact..." He pulled out seven large, glossy pictures from a folder hidden behind the newspaper. "Hase's hotel room - heavily guraded.. .Hase going to Genom Chicago...a few police reports, a few rumors of something called a "Steel Raven" and a few local places where genom tried to buy out their land, and were stopped."

"How?" Luna frowned.

"Aahhh, it seems I've found the right treat for Miss Kitty!" Van Allen's smile widened. He folded his hands in front of himself.

"Cut the crap, Van. You know something."

"Seems there were a few places that Genom wanted for one reason or another; each one was nearly sold only to be saved at the last minute. I'm going to take the Dreammobile and see if any one comes up to take the bait." 

"You think they might have an involvement with the "Steel Ravens?" 

"That's my thinking, that any group working in the city needs a base, and Genom has never lost a buyout unless something stepped in with a higher bid."

"What about your contact in Tokyo? Did they tell you any more that would point to groups in Chicago?" Luna said, leaning against a post near the table.

"No, wouldn't tell me a thing for some reason. Something's going on in this city: Hase is here, Genom's here, and a guy named Kohl is here; we know Kohl and Hase have a thing going on, the hotel room she was staying at is in his name. And he happens to be the VP of R&D at Genom Chicago.

"Great, and the police reports?"

"Even less to go on. There've been reports of vigilante activity, on and off, but the ADP's kept that locked up. The n-police has three reports; the most recent is about a girl named Shaine Kohl." 

Van Allen smiled as Luna looked at him curiously.

"Yep, one and the same. Two muggers were found at her hotel tied up with cables after she got away. The other one dates back to the late '30's; it's less believable, but a sceintist swears he was saved from a "harpy" by a "balck clad brid of prey," who called out 'caw caw' and then saved him."

"I assume this scientist has been checked out?"

"Yes, and his grave is looking mighty nice for this time of year. Heart failure, 2039, two years after the report."

Van Allen stood up. "If they're out there, they have to be invisible."

"Or they're that much better than us," Luna said with a bit of venom.

"Now, now. We have a great team and we're getting better ever day."

"Not the point. Hase is a danger, and we've got a clear shot at her. We only need to have her out in the open long enough to get that shot, and now we're wasting time trying to track a myth," Luna fumed. 

"But if we can find them they might be able to help us. At any rate, the others are out gathering more data. We'll nail her, trust me."

"You underestimate her, Van Allen."

"Or do I place more faith in you then you like me to have?" Van Allen shot back as he walked to the elevator and stepped in.

///

_4:35pm_

Hours later, Luna found herself restlessly staring at a computer screen. The police band was going but had become a background noise of near useless information. 

She was looking at a web site dedicated to the "Steel Ravens," and it was filled with legends and myths - most beyond any reasonable belief. In one the Ravens were "avenging angels with fiery wings;" another had them pegged as dead souls come back to do justice. They epainted Genom as a house of monsters, with horror filling the halls and every employee some kind of half Boomer half monster waiting to steal the souls of the city.

_At least they got something right,_ Luna thought.

There was even an eyewitness acount from some kid who saw a raven; from what he said they were some kind of Boomers. The more Luna read, the more uncomfortable she became.

What if Genom had made a group like the Moonlight Knights and the Sabers, to throw off any real group forming in Chicago?

She looked at the clock. Van Allen had been gone for more than four hours. Jupiter had returned, with next to nothing... 

Moon and Kamen had had no better luck; Luna believed that was more due to Moon's whining, but let them slide this once. The last thing she needed was a argument right then.

"You've been looking at the screen a long time," Artemis said.

"It's like a needle in a haystack," Luna griped. He handed her a steaming cup of coffee. "Thanks."

"You know, maybe they don't want to be found. They could have a lot to hide."

"That type of positive thinking, we don't need," Luna muttered. She took a sip of the coffee; it tasted like chocolate and cinnamon. She sighed.

"_Attention all units: rogue Boomer at Printer's Row, repeat rogue Boomer at Printer's Row._" The voice over the intercomm was slightly tinny.

Artemis' eyes lit up. "Let's go!"

"You've been messing with the suits again, haven't you?" Luna asked without amusement.

"Just fine-tuned them using the data from our last battle. They should show a 10% improvement in speed and dexterity, as well as increased power output. You see I--"

"Artemis, _if_ you want to go then skip the tech speak and get suited up, _please?_"

///

_The next night: 6:45pm, Kit's Garage_

The rain had finally stopped, leaving the ground slickand puddles in backed-up sewer drains. Inside, Kit was bent over a customer's car; the 2028 Chevy had been an easy job. A quick lube and some new gaskets. One of Priss's songs was playing on the radio and the splashes from passing cars somehow accentuated the sound.

The old air house bell rang out at the best part in the song. Kit looked up from under the hood of the car. There in the grey, rain-stained parking lot was a Cadellac Ceville 2019. It was from a time when big as boat was back in style. Kit whistled, impressed. 

The driver's door opened and a man in a white tailored suit and sun-bright yellow shirt stepped out. For a moment he reminded Kit of the lawyer from Genom.

"Hiya. Anything I can help you out with?" Kit called out as she walked around the Chevy.

The man played with his white silk tie. He flashed Kit a killer smile. "Hello, yes, I was wondering if you'd take a look at my car. She's starting to pull to the left...I was driving by and saw you were open. Figured you might be able to handle it." 

Kit had a funny feeling about him: expensive-looking suit, bad part of town...that probably meant trouble. 

"I'll see what I can do." Kit smiled back at him, then popped under the hood and started giving it a once-over.

The first thing she noticed was that the car's heavy modifications had been covered up to look normal. The engine was oversized even for a car of its time. After poking around for a moment, she could tell that the frame and body was made of titanium. No one in their right mind would build something like it. Somehow Crimson and the Ravens came to mind. _Okay, this guy's definitely not just an enthusiast. _As Kit walked around the car, she saw how well-armored it was and again was reminded of quite a few others she'd seen recently. This car wasn't built for outright speed, but it _was_ build to be a tank; there was no cyberware, but it was reinforced with polymers and compound metals that weren't even found in new cars, yet.

_It looks like a hardsuit on wheels._

"So do you think you can fix it?" The owner called out.

Kit's hand moved over a panel near the front; it dropped down to reveal front-firing anti-Boomer guns. _Yup. Hardsuit on wheels._

"Piece of cake. All I need to do is a simple re-alignment...shouldn't take too long." _Black market, obviously._

"How long?"

"Two days, tops."

"Two days? That's a bit long, don'cha think?" He walked into the room - fortunately after she'd gotten the weapons concealed again - and flashed that smile again...it ought to be considered a weapon in and of itself. "How much more would it take to have it in a day?"

She hesitated. She could feel his eyes on her..."Just a second. I'll be right with you." 

"Sure, sure." He popped a breath mint into his mouth.

Kit went into her office, closed the door, and called Crimson. He answered on the first ring. 

"Crimson here."

"It's Kit. I got a situation here... There's a guy here who wants his car done, only it's more a tank than a car." 

"How long did you tell him it'll take?" 

"Two days. He wants it faster." 

"Cut it down to one, but make it sound like it wasn't easy. Tell him you had to change your day around for him. I'll be over to see it." 

_Good. I don't have to figure out what the heck to do with this... _"Okay. See you when you get here." She hung up and walked back outisde. The man was looking around the far side of the garage, as if trying to find something. "Sir? I've just had a cancellation, so I can get it done sooner if you'd like." He looked up at her with a jerk, and composed himself.

"Really? That's great. But say...do you happen to know anything about Boomers? There was this construction model that made me swerve and hit a pothole... Someone should really do something about them."

"I know. It's like they're taking over the town." 

"Yeah, but not just Chicago either. They're just everywhere." He smiled. "Ah, well. What's a perosn going to do, you can't live with them and you can't live with out them."

Kit started getting the car ready. "Don't I know it...and the ADP seems to be doing more harm than good..." 

"Oh yeah, yeah, but you know they're just Genom puppets, no real backbone."

Although all of it looked new, she could see faint signs that tools had been used on the car before. Someone was being very careful. Then she got to the tie rods. There was a Boomer hand stuck between one of them and the wheel. It was stuck in there pretty good, too.

The man called out from the other room: "I'll be right back, my cell's dead. Need to find a pay phone." 

"There's one right outside the garage." 

"Thanks!" She heard him walk away._ Too bad I can't keep an eye on him..._

Setting that thought aside, she got to work on dislodging the Boomer hand. Then she heard a familiar cawing noise. There was a ravensitting on the edge of the pit, looking at straight at her; it ruffled its dark feathers, hopped closer, and continued to stare. She heard more footsteps. "Kit?" 

_About time..._ The raven's head bobbed as it looked from her to the door and back again.She walked to it, and peeked outside to see Crimson standing there, dressed in coveralls. "So what'cha doing, boss?" he said, loud enough to be heard by the man outside. Then Crim slid underneath the car and said more quietly, "What have you found?"

"We've got something stuck in the front axle here..." 

He moved around to look. "I see. Can you remove it?"

"I can try, but it's gonna take a bit of work." _Pretty much have to take the car apart._

"No, don't go to the trouble; there's something not right here...the hand is too far into the well, and there's not that much damage, meaning that the _Boomer_ didn't jam its hand in here, or he didn't run the thing over." 

"Ahh, yes..." 

Crimson got out from underneath the car and walked around to the other side, then went back under. "He's using the same armor as most APC carriers." Kit whistled. "Not that impressive; I've seen Boomers go through them before."

"Geez..."

"Where are his guns?" 

"Here." She pointed Crim toward the front of the car. He looked, and then opened the panel.

"Now this is impressive. Two nitro-cooled, anti-Boomer stompers, with caseless ammo." He wiggled one of the shells out of the belt. It was about the size of a small can of shaving cream. 

"Yeah. Obviously this guy knows where to get the exotic goods..." 

"It has to cost him..." Crim hid the shell in his pocket. "Slip a tracker in, tighten some bolts, and we'll see where this clown goes. And don't forget to overcharge him."

"Gotcha." Just then the raven began to caw again.

"He's coming back." Crimson slid out from underneath the car quickly, and Kit closed the hood just in time.

"How's it going?"

"Well, it took a little bit of work, but we managed to get it back to normal." She started writing up the bill.

"Oh? What was wrong?"

"There was a Boomer hand stuck in the axle, but we managed to jimmy it out." She finished writing with a flourish, and handed the bill to him. It was twice what she would normally charge. 

"Oh, wonder how that got there..." He looked it over, looked again, then smiled at her and handed her a credit card. She ran it through, then gave him the slip. He signed it _Van Allen_. Taking the card back from her, he started the car up and left.

"Have a good one!" Kit called as he pulled out. Once he was gone, Crimson reappeared.

"Interesting. He didn't even flinch at the bill." 

Kit wiped her brow and grinned feebly. "You know, that was the first time I overcharged anyone...felt kinda good, to be truthful..." She snickered. 

"For shame. Shaine must be rubbing off on you!" Kit giggled at that. "You know, though, I really don't think he's got any worries about money..." 

"Right; any normal person would haggle - or complain. And he was a little too calm when you told him about the hand..."

Kit nodded. "And did you see those teeth?"

"Yeah, you could blind someone with those. Wonder how much he spent on them." Crimson thought for a moment. "You have any other pressing matters today?"

"Other than the usual cleaning up, not much else." 

"I'll get someone from the Nest to do that; we're going to tail Van Allen."

"Gotcha." 

Half an hour later, they were in Crimson's tank of a car. "Does this guy do anything besides drive around? Must be his night off or something." Kit groaned."Or he knows we're following him..."

The white Cadillac pulled into a parking lot. "Oh, I get it: fight Boomers, fix car, get milk..." Crimson muttered. "Must have an easy life."

"A little too easy if you ask me." 

"I think you're right. He's looking for something. At your place, did he seem to be checking things out more than he should? Too curious, looking around, picking through your files?"

"I think I saw him snooping around." Crimson tapped on the steering wheel, then suddenly spun it. He nearly ran another car off of the road.

"_Gah!_"

"Sorry. Hang on, going to see how badly this guy wants to find us." Crimson nodded. "He has anti-Boomer weapons on his car, brought it to a known site of Genom's interest, and he's looking for something..." A light blinked on the dashboard. "Crap." 

Crimson grabbed his cell phone. "Crim here. ...Yes, Kit and me. Yeah, yeah, got it." He snapped the phone shut. "Van Allen's off the hook for now. Some kind of insanity going on down by the art museum."

"Hmmn...but why would he be interested in my garage...?"

"Genom tried and failed to buy it. They usually get their way, and any time they lose you have to ask yourself why. I hate to say it...but it draws suspicion."

"You don't suppose...?"

"What, that he's looking for the Ravens? It had crossed my mind." He pulled into an alley. "Hope you don't mind, but this looks like a good spot to change."

Kit nodded. Crimson pressed a button on the dashboard and the alley's walls shimmered. "The cloak won't hold for long..." He then popped the trunk to reveal two hardsuits folded up inside. Kit jumped out and changed as quickly as she could; he followed suit. "We're about four blocks away right now. Let's go."

///

_Later that night, after leaving the art museum._

The flight back to the Ravens' base was short. The Knights were split up into groups at the end of it, and Luna found herself waiting in an office with Artemis - for half an hour.

"I wonder if they'll let us look at their suits," Artemis wondered aloud. "They've got some pretty advanced stuff. I wonder if they're even using Stingray tech at all..." He looked at her as if expecting some oracular answer. 

"I don't know," she answered bluntly. "Is it possible?"

"Anything is possible. Probability is the thing. But...they look too sleek for that, you know?" He went silent suddenly as the door opened. Crimson walked in wearing a hooded sweatshirt. His hair was wet, and he looked tired. Luna suddenly realized that he was the one whose helmet had been shattered in the fight.

"Sorry about the wait. There were a few matters that needed tending to." He sat down behind the desk, looking completely at ease and in control despite the obvious fatigue. Luna shifted in her seat, bristling. "I'm sorry...can I get you something to drink? I forget my manners sometimes."

"No, I'm fine," Luna said curtly.

"Oh, um..." Artemis thought better of it, deciding it would be easier to follow Luna's lead. "No, no thanks."

"I'm Crimson, the leader of the Steel Ravens, and this is our home base."

"I'm Luna, and this is Artemis." She stood and stepped forward to offer him her hand. He shook it firmly, but not any more firmly than she did...he didn't want any fights breaking out because of a perceived loss of control.

"You have some impressive suits," he continued.

"Thank you. Artemis has put a great deal of effort into them. And your own...I suspect not all of that was Stingray technology...?"

"No. Like most of the groups out there, we do use Stingray tech." _And a little extra, but I don't really feel like telling them that just yet..._

"I see." Luna seemed not to believe him.

"There have been advancements, and upgrades that are ours alone," _Extensive ones,_ "But the base technology is the same old thing."

"Ah." Luna still seemed distant, but Artemis looked like he was about to start drooling.

"If you don't mind my asking, how is it that you came across yours, and found an interest in this cause?"

"You'd have to ask Van Allen about the suits. And as for Hase...we've been following her for quite a while now. She hunts Replicants in the burnt-out shell of Detroit. We've been trying to recruit a group there as well."

"Detroit's pretty rough."

"Indeed."

"Van Allen...that's the gentleman in the white suit and the Caddy, right?"

"Yes," Luna said calmly.

"He was driving some pretty heavy hardware in my city. How long have you been doing this?"

"About a year now."

He nodded. "Something seems to be going on here, but you have no idea what it may be. The Ravens happen to be one of the two largest groups in America at this time, and we also happen to be the oldest. I feel that that brings along with it a certain responsibility. Wouldn't you agree?"

Artemis looked blankly at Luna.

"Well...yes."

"Good. You see, while we still all use the same hardsuit base, there is only a loose connection between groups. The Knight Sabers, the Ravens, the Bright Lancers, Knights of the Round Table, so forth... Until this point we've all been running around doing our own thing."

"Section Nine..." Luna said softly. "We've even been approached by a German group called the Imperial Guard."

He nodded. "I'm not sure about S-9; they're still too new and too shady...I don't want you having the same kind of trouble that I've seen in new groups."

"Really. So you'd suggest caution. The Guard was able to give us some rather good information about Hase's cousin and her weaknesses...I wouldn't be so hesitant."

"Might I ask what information they gave you?"

"At about the same time we began operating in Rochester, she underwent a procedure to transfer her brain into a Replicant body."

"I see..."

"Nexus-6 prototype revision 5, 420 pounds, heavy armor, HV sniper gun in right arm... Reaction time is something a human in a hardsuit could only dream of." Crimson smiled at that. "Fortunately the information came in time and we've been smart enough to get out of her way ever since. We've tried to trap her on occasion but she seems to realize it just before we have her."

"They're quite advanced, and dangerous," Artemis added. "In fact, they could be the next big step in Boomer evolution."

"I'm sure." _Don't laugh, Crim, don't laugh..._

"The major types of projectile weapons commonly used with Boomers don't seem to be compatible yet, but beam weapons are quite common. The Guard stole its 'pulser' technology from them."

"Beams are cheaper in the long run," Crimson said.

"But harder to maintain."

"It varies."

"And they still require charges, at least the pulser-type ones, even if they are small."

"With ammo-based weapons, there is the replacement factor--"

"As well as friction. But with energy weapons you have the wear from the chemical reactions. 'Caden' is always bitching about having to clean out his ports."

"We could argue this all day," Crimson said, "Which I'm not going to... Here's what I'm offering: work with us, and we'll trade technology and information on a one-to-one ratio until we trust each other. That way, we can help each other. I've seen groups fight each other over one Boomer, run into each other on missions and act as if the other group's the enemy, let both of their missions go to pot because of the other team. We may share a common heritage but we don't share information and there is no true leader in this fight. Granted Sylia has her hands full and I don't know if I agree with her fully, but there has to be some kind of order or we will waste too much of our strength in power games that aren't really necessary."

"Agreed. You've got a deal...and I'll see what I can do about putting you in touch with Kusanagi and Lord Caden."

"Sounds good. Now, how about I show you around?"

Luna smiled. "Of course." Artemis nearly jumped out of his chair at the suggestion.

Crimson looked at Luna. "He doesn't get out much, does he?"

///

They spent nearly two hours in the hardsuit room going over weapons. Crimson finally called Jinks in to talk to Artemis. He leaned over toward Luna. "Should we let them be?"

"All right...but I have one request first. Make sure the two of you look at Sailorpluto's time key later and see if you can do something about the power drain?"

Jinks looked at Crimson. "Sure. We can do that." Crimson nodded at her and she went back to answering Artemis's questions.

"What seems to be the problem?"

"It's capable of transporting the suit wearer about fifteen feet in any direction, instantaneously, but it nearly drains the suit's battery dry."

"Teleportation?"

"It seems like it."

"Seems?" _This is beginning to sound dangerous..._

"Van Allen told us he got it from a woman with dark red eyes...that's all he's ever been willing to say."

"Great... Did he ever tell you he sold his soul for it?"

"Heh. I think he did say that."

Crimson chuckled. "I'll hold the stake and the holy water if she ever comes back..."

"_I am not!_" Bell's voice screeched down the hall. "Look here, Miss Moonpie--"

Luna raised an eyebrow.

"I've been at this longer..." There was a long string of Japanese insults, highly pitched - presumably from Sailormoon.

Crimson sighed. "That would be Belladonna."

A male voice howled in pain. He looked at Luna, then ran down the hall. Tuxedo Mask emerged from around a corner, Bell on one arm and Sailormoon on the other, trying to hold the two apart.

"When I get done with you there won't be enough left to make a Smoothie, much less a Boomer!" Bell windmilled her arms at Sailormoon, landing another punch on Tuxedo Mask's chest.

"Now that's it! You hurt my boyfriend--"

"You mean sex toy!" Belladonna bellowed.

"Lun-a-a-a-a-a-aaaaa! Waaah!"

Crimson walked up behind Bell and peeled her away from Tuxedo Mask. "Do I dare ask what this is about, young lady?" She cringed. He looked at the other two.

Bell just hung her head. He nodded. "Okay. In the conference room, all of you. Now." That last word was not said loudly, but with just as much force behind it as if it had been. They silently filed toward the conference room.

He sat them down far enough apart that they wouldn't be able to reach each other, with Tuxedo Mask in the middle again. Crim didn't like putting him in a position to become a punching bag again, but he seemed the most levelheaded.

"Now, in calm voices...what happened?"

"She was teasing us about running away from a Nexus-6," Tuxedo Mask said.

"Bell, why is this man limping and why did I find him in the middle of a catfight?" Bell looked down and just swung around in the chair.

"And _then_..." Tuxedo Mask just stared at Sailormoon.

"Is this true?"

"Well, not teasing...it's just we never ran from a Nexus-6..."

He nodded and then looked back at the Knights. "Go on."

"Next thing I know I'm trying to keep them off of each other. I don't even really know what happened."

"Who threw the first hit?"

Bell pointed her finger at Sailormoon. "I did _not!_"

"Did too! Did too! I would never hit a strong handsome man!"

"I did not hit him even once!"

"Did either of you hit each other?" Crimson interjected. "Or just Mask?"

"I didn't hit him!" Sailormoon fumed.

Crimson could barely keep from laughing. If he broke up... "Bell?"

"_Me?_"

"I saw the windmill; you got him, but why was he screaming before that?"

"She started it, the big baby," Bell mumbled.

"I did not. Lunaaaa!"

Crimson gave Luna a look of sympathy. "Okay, Moon, was it? You tell me what happened."

"Nooooo! It wasn't my fault!" She was already in tears.

"I'm not asking you whose fault it was. Just tell me what happened."

"She t-tuh-tried to hit meeee...a-and, and, I couldn't really do anything..."

"Bell, why did you try to hit her?"

"She called me a liar!" Bell howled. "She said that there was no way anyone could take on a Boomer alone, without a hardsuit...and well I told her that you can take on even a Nex-6 without a hardsuit, and she called me a liar!" She started crying too. "Tell them you can, Crimson, tell them!"

"Bell, this is neither the time nor the place." He noticed that Luna and Mask both had expressions that screamed, _why me?_ "It's a hobby, okay?"

"See, I told you! He's taken on Boomer and Nexus-6's..." She stuck out her tongue at Sailormoon.

"_This_ is what this is about?" Sailormoon and Tuxedo Mask said nothing. "Is this what this is about?" he repeated. Sailormoon glared at Bell and sniffled. He let out a sigh. "You two _do_ understand that we're all on the same side and it doesn't matter who can do what?"

"But she...she called me a fat liar...and she called you an old man," Bell whimpered.

"Old? I see." He walked behind Sailormoon. "And Miss Moon - may I call you that?"

"Uh-h-h...yes..."

"You think I'm old, do you?"

"Ah-ah--" She started bawling uncontrollably.

"Stop it," Crimson ordered. "You think that age has something to do with a hardsuit's enhancements? You think that just because I'm older than you I'm too old to be in a hardsuit?" She just sniffled. "Hmmm...let's test this theory of yours, Miss Moon. You, me, and Bell, in the training room. We'll put this matter to rest - and give Arty a chance to see the suits in action. --If you approve, Luna?"

"Of course."

Crimson stalked toward the door, not waiting for the others, and went to suit up. The others followed dumbly.

"See, now you've gone and gotten him mad!" Bell squeaked. 

By the time they reached the training room, Crimson was already in his hardsuit. He wore one of the older helmets. "Ladies, get suited up."

Bell gave Crimson one last look before she climbed into the suit. _Why do I not like the sound of this?_

"I'm setting the suits at the same level; it will make us all equal aside from physical differences. We're going to play tag. You two against me, and the first one to tag out wins. Three tags per suit. Any questions? --Oh, and just for fun...we'll be using antigravity."

Belladonna looked at Sailormoon through her helmet, her face pale and harried. 

"Ready?"

"Ready," Sailormoon said in a tiny voice.

"Yeah, ready," Bell sighed. "You know, Moon, you could save us this humiliation right now and tell him you're sorry."

"Too late. Enable antigrav!" Crimson floated upward, letting the room take him, and watched Sailormoon howl and flail her arms as she drifted off of the floor. Bell, having done the same thing exactly one time before, had a very little more grace.

"I am not liking thiiiiis," Bell whined. 

Sailormoon aimed a potshot at Crimson, missed, and flew halfway across the room due to recoil. "_Waaaaaahhhhh!_"

"Come on! I'm just one old man!" Crimson fired at the missile, detonating it harmlessly in midair. Bell saw her opening and charged him, her cable dagger flying out toward him. He ducked under the line and grabbed it. "Bell, I didn't know you were a swinger..."

"_Huh?_ Oh no, please don't - oh, please _please_ not again..."

Crimson spun her around in a wide arc and tossed her into Sailormoon. Moon laughed, until she saw Bell careening toward her. Then she began screaming again, in unison with Bell this time. She howled in anger as Belladonna hit, driving her back into the wall.

"Move it, you fat cow! Our reputation's on the line!" Bell screamed as she fought to untangle her cable. Sailormoon shoved her. Crimson just floated serenely out of their reach, darkening the viewport on his helmet just a bit more so that they couldn't see his ear-to-ear smile.

"I'm only one man, be gentle..."

"He's waiting for us to do something," Bell hissed.

"You triiiiicked us!"

"Trick you? Me?"

"No shit," Bell muttered under her breath. She ignored Sailormoon, who wailed in anger again as she flung one arm out to aim at him and fired again. "What do you think he'd do? He's trying to teach us a lesson and we, as lame as it is, walked right into it."

Crimson used his jet verniers to lift himself above the shots and toward Sailormoon.

"Aiiii!"

"Tag, you're it." He tapped her on the shoulder, sending her flying. "Oh, I'm so old and frail..."

"Hey Birdman!" Belladonna called. Her laser gun was aimed at his back, with point blank accuracy. Crimson swung one leg around and roundhoused her, sending her flying as well. He dove after her and tagged her.

"That's one each...gee, I sure am tired now..."

"Ouch...real funny, boss...real funny..."

"Come on! You're both better than this."

Bell turned on the suit comm. "Look, I'm sorry about what I said and did, but if you want to live this down then we've got to put it aside and try to do this right. 'k?"

"All right..."

"Now, Crim likes to come from above or below. He's a lefty, so if we hit him from his right we should get him. Don't use the missiles; they, um...they send you flying all around. Ready on three. One...two... _Go!_"

Sailormoon leapt toward Crimson from the right, and Belladonna headed in from the left. Bell fired her laser at his legs and he turned. Sailormoon fired her rail guns toward his head and one of them hit. A moment later, Bell leapfrogged over Crimson, tagging him as she went.

"Yeeeah!" Sailormoon threw her arms up in triumph, sending herself careening across the room again.

"You know you just may be getting too old, Crimson..." Bell laughed - until she saw the cables lurching toward her midsection. There was another pair headed for Sailormoon, who screamed as she fought to get out of the way.

Sailormoon managed to squirm away, but Bell was wrapped up in the cable. "Hold the line with your verniers! I'm going to try somethi--" Bell cut off as Crimson began to spin her around. "Aiiiieeeeeeee I'm going to be siiiiiick!" She activated her own verniers and snapped the line taut. A ripple headed down the line toward Crimson's arm. "We don't have much time! Grab the cable!" Sailormoon did it. "Now when I say so, fire your right side jets; it'll send him into the wall. ...Now!"

Crimson was startled at first and went careening toward the wall. He quickly recovered, getting his legs underneath him and using them to push off of the wall and go flying back toward Belladonna and Sailormoon.

"Now tag him!"

Sailormoon's armored fist slammed down onto his suit, and they floated to the ground slowly. "Nice job. See? You can have different opinions and still work things out." He pulled off the helmet, which still had a rail embedded in it.

"You set us up!"

"Yup." He bent the rail into a "U" shape. Bell's eyes grew wide. "Bell, show her where we keep the ice cream. --And try to get along; you have a lot in common."

"Yes, sir. ...See, told you he wasn't old!"

Crimson walked back over to Luna, who had simply stood there silently the entire time, and said, "We should go check on Arty and Jinks." He stepped out of the hardsuit and put his jeans and sweatshirt back on over the measuring suit, then led her back down the hall. "Mind if I ask you something, Luna?"

"Go ahead."

"Moon's a good kid, but why did you pick her for combat?"

"Van Allen is the one who chose us..." He could tell by the tone of her voice that she had never thought to question, before.

"So you were handpicked by him?"

"Yes."

"And what's your role in this? I had you pegged as their leader."

"I am."

"But Van Allen calls the shots..."

"To a certain extent. He finances the group and supplies all of our equipment."

Crimson nodded. "I see...has he ever been called 'the General'?"

"Not that I know of."

"When we got started, the General founded what was to become the Ravens. He died in our birth, so to speak, from what we know. But it's the same pattern: someone gave us the suits, the cloaking devices, and everything else; we improved on it, but it was still just handed to us. Sometimes I've wondered where the General got it from, if there might not be someone higher who gave it to him and to Van Allen."

"Who? Stephen Stingray? This red-eyed woman of Van Allen's? Caden claimed to have had a vision of some fictitious goddess..."

"I'm not sure," Crimson admitted. "If it was Stingray, he hid it well; I speak to his daughter often and she's given no clue. But what about this goddess?"

"He said he saw 'Dani Immortal' with a pair of black wings...I take it that wasn't one of you."

"Not that I know of. I've traveled; I used to be a US Marshall - some still think I am - but Germany's still out of my range. I've never been that far, and Jinks didn't have a hardsuit back then."

"Sometimes I wonder if they're both crazy. And Kusanagi's never said a word about how her group got started."

"Nor have the Lancers," Crimson said, "But I've found out more about them than anyone else. Do you ever wonder if _we're_ crazy, for all of this?"

"I don't know," Luna said honestly.

"I know there was a time when I questioned everything about it..."

"Kick Genom ass, save the world, it seems pretty reasonable," Luna mused. "But then when all of this intrigue bullshit gets mixed in, I start to worry."

"That always makes it hard. There's always someone out there pulling the strings. Hell, our fight may not even be with Genom, but with the people who think they can use Genom for their own benefit. Who try to control it. --But at the same time, at least here in Chicago, Genom itself's got enough crime and vice to keep you thinking they're evil. I can't prove it yet, but I think the president and VP of research had a hand in a few murders..."

"That wouldn't surprise me."

"No, it wouldn't. Or it shouldn't, really."

"I've heard plenty to prove that Kohl is a pansy, but I don't think he slept his way to the top like Carter."

"It's a front. Kohl may not like getting his hands dirty, but he can call for a murder in a hearbeat. And Carter's a real piece of work, too. She's so deep into Genom, I'm surprised she's not brown."

"Or maybe it's not a front...maybe someone is pulling the strings for him in order to make sure he stays on top."

Crimson stopped short. "Good insight."

Luna looked at him. "Think about it. He's too visible to be the real leader of that coalition of his. Too likely to get shot."

"Boomer doubles and bodyguards," Crimson reminded her.

"I've thought about it often. Hase's got too many enemies to be calling the shots herself...or maybe they're both smarter than we give them credit, and they really are in charge. Playing ice queen and political man-whore just to make everyone think they're figureheads. And Carter, now...I haven't given her much study but I've heard that she might have been behind Sansweet's fall from grace."

"I've heard the same thing." They stood at the doorway to the lab when a ripple shot through the air, and for a split second Crimson saw a hardsuit melt into nothing. Then it slipped back into being, fluid yet thick like molasses, on the other side of the room. He looked at Luna. "Did you feel that?"

"Um, yeah, and the colors...! It always gets me like that!" Artemis jumped up and down like a hyperactive child.

"Let me guess: the time key?"

"Don't be so surprised, Crimson," Jinks said. "But it _is_ quite impressive, I'll admit."

He looked at Luna. "Stops time, doesn't it?"

"Not _stop_ time, but operate outside of it...or at least that's what we think..."

"It's very complex," Jinks interjected. "It could operate on one of a hundred principles--"

"No no no! You gotta watch Star Trek, I'm telling you! They talk about this Very Exact Thing..."

"Will you stop it with the Star Trek nonsense?" Luna growled.

"Yes, please. I deal in the real world."

Artemis gave her a dirty glare. Crimson quickly stepped in: "Okay, new ground rule. If another Raven and another Knight start fighting, they will both be cleaning out the birdcages with a toothbrush." Jinks looked dumbly at Crimson. "Your daughter and Sailormoon."

"Why does that not surprise me, Crim?"

"No, I'm serious...it opeates on a fundamental instability in the spacetime continuum, either tearing the fabric of space or else simply moving through it - my Athmari ain't so good when it comes to physics - and it simply takes the mass around it to wherever the exit point of the flow happens to be!"

"Ah." Jinks did not seem convinced.

"Whaaat? I'm serious! They talk about it all RIGHT IN this one episode....uhm...oh which one was it..."

"I believe you, Artemis," Crimson said. "Now what about the power drain it causes?"

Artemis jumped up suddenly. "The one where they're escaping from the Jem'Hadar prison planet and Shanin's uniform gets all ripped! Gawd I'm so good!"

"Grow up, kid," Jinks snapped.

"Oh, I don't know about the power drain. The way I figure it, they have it too...they're always complaining about how there's not enough power for this or that because of the spacetime flux equipment and the temporal shielding..."

"And your suits have both?"

"No, not shielding. Uhmmm...that's how they manage to be impervious to all of the regular phasers and photon torpedoes from Old-Trek."

"I was saying that before we went to Never-Never Land," Jinks sighed. "They're using the old Stingray batteries; that might be one of the reasons. This thing sucks up so much juice that I had to hook it up to the base power grid to get the light show. Or, of course, you can believe _him_; might as well believe that we're the ghosts of dead people while you're at it."

"Some of us are, Jinks," Crimson said with a smile. "So it's hooked up to our grid now? Okay, Arty, tell me how you use this thing in battle."

"You're kidding," Jinks said. "This thing is a one-way-only escape route. There's no way they're going to drag this thing into battle and then out again."

"We were told that our batteries were deliberately underpowered to reduce the chance of the suits going rogue," Luna said evenly.

"It's a myth. We've been able to run our suits for far longer without any problems. I can have Jinks give you the specs. And Jinks, do you think you can find a way to increase Pluto's power? Maybe give her something extra? I don't want her injured due to Sylia's pride."

"Sure. I think we can give her life and maybe one weapon... If we configure it to use cloaking that's a little different, but I'm sure we can do _something_."

"Yeah, she can still move and fight, barely..."

"And she's the best we have. No one else could have taken it." Luna said.

"I see." Crimson looked at the key, then nodded. "We'll do our best to help her."

_If I can keep the base from exploding or a civil war from breaking out at the same time..._

///

_Damn, that Boomer is even more annoying than most,_ Ada thought. She was beginning to hate Erik's redheaded secretary more by the second. She ignored the Boomer and walked into his office without knocking.

"Miss Inho."

"Nice to see you again."

"A pleasure as always."

"I've made some headway..." she said, but was quickly cut off.

"I take it you have a good reason for reporting in a day late...after intentionally interfering with a Genom employee's attempt to capture the Ravens." Erik's voice was softly threatening.

"She was going to fail miserably." Ada lit a cigarette.

"True. However, she is still owed all due cooperation."

"If I had cooperated, you would have never gotten this vid." Erik raised an eyebrow. She popped the casing of her recorder. "Audio-video recording of the fight, and the aftermath."

"Thank you..." Ada sat down across from his desk and blew smoke into the air. "Anything else to report?"

"They trust me a little. Just watch the video."

He slid it into his laptop. Ada watched Erik's face assume practically every expression of emotion possible as the video played. "Well?"

"I...see." _Going to have to find that ADP officer later. What was his name? Jenkins? _"Did any of the ADP see her face?"

"Not so far as I know. I could hack in and find out...?"

"Do it." He thought a moment, then added, "Erase any recordings if you can find them. We've already got someone claiming to have seen a dead man...with any luck they won't pay much heed to unsubstantiated reports."

Ada slapped in her cybermodem. The environment of the ADP mainframe was very structured and organized, a room filled with filing cabinets. "Oh, please..." She first checked for references to Hase Kant. The ADP had already checked with her home in Michigan and found 'her' there, and so they were assuming that the woman responsible for the destruction was a rogue Boomer duplicate of her. 

"I've found something mentioning a 'Boomer duplicate'. Shall I delete them?"

"Of whom?"

"Hase Kant."

"No. That's our cover story."

Then it's clean."

"Good. References to the identities of the Ravens?"

"Yeah. A Shaine Kohl, and an Omar Melendez. Relative?"

He didn't answer. "Delete the information on Shaine. Remove the information on Melendez as well if you have to to make it clean..."

She took the papers out of the cabinet and burned them, then wrote "Hedgemon" with the ashes. "Done."

"Are you familiar with Melendez at all?"

"Never met him."

"Ah."

"Now... is Kant here?"

"Not at the moment."

"Hmm... Lemme guess. She left in a huff because your agent helped to foil her plan."

"Not...quite."

"Am I close?"

"...Somewhat. I had to order her _three_ Boomers this time."

"For what? Sexaroids, or... dinner?"

"Ms. Kant has late-stage Boomer syndrome. It takes...considerable stimulation to get her in the mood." From the sour look on his face, she assumed that he had personally found that to be a problem. Ada chuckled.

She took a long drag on the cigarette and let the ashes drop on the floor. "Heh. Thank you for not breathing while I smoke..."

"I was just wondering when I should schedule my lung replacement."

"I'm sure that's not a problem... Just hope you don't get a ripperdoc."

"That should not be a problem. My med-Boomer is qualified for everything and up to a full-body transplant."

Ada suddenly sat up very straight. "Ooh, _now _I know where I've seen you before! Have you ever been to Night City?"

"Yes..." _Oh, dear God._

"I remember you from the Totentanz!"

"Erm...yes. Mardg talked me into that." _May Mardigian burn in hell._ His hand twitched.

"Heh. I waited your table."

"It was...quite an experience."

"Gods, wasn't _that_ a long time ago..."

"That would have been right about when Shaine started dating that Shang fellow..." There was a thoughtful look on Erik's face. "I about wanted to drink myself under the table during _that_."

"That's not the place to do it. They slit the throats of the intoxicated."

"Good thing I stopped, then." A Cheshire Cat grin slowly appeared on his face.

"Now what passage of the Book of E-Ville hast thou read this time..." Ada caught herself.

"Remind me sometime to show you the results from series 84-RPM sometime...codeword is 'ashes of dead lovers'..."

"Certainly. What is it?"

He blinked. "Well. I can't tell you exactly what it is...but the interesting part is how we got it..."

She facefaulted. "Who did you hire?"

"We bought out the entire FBI for that one. ...And Ginny Lee had a hand in it too..."

"G-Ginny L-Lee?"

"Yes..."

"Can you bring in a Boomer?"

He puzzled over that for a moment, then pressed a button on his laptop. The secretary walked in. 

_Oh, good._

Ada blasted it several times with her MA rounds. Erik looked down at the bleeding, twitching pile of Boomer wordlessly. Ada handed him a check. "Sorry."

"I take it I said something wrong."

"Oh, nothing major... Did Ginny have a message for me?"

"No, I'm afraid not."

"She usually leaves stuff encoded," Ada pressed.

"Hm. I'll have to check, then." He didn't look very pleased. Ada smirked.

Erik absentmindedly picked up the phone and punched a few buttons. "Yes...yes. I've been notified of a potential contamination of 84-RPM. Have the subject checked. --Yes, the bodies too. Now. _Thank_ you."

"She's almost as good as myself."

He put the phone down. "I can only hope so. Though that may be why most of the subjects failed..."

"Did she leave contact info?"

"Yes. A cell phone number."

"Might I see it?"

He went back to the laptop, and wrote down a number a moment later, then passed the slip of paper to Ada. She dialed. "The Black Hit of Space/Sucking in the human race/How can it stay at the top/When it's swallowed/All the shops? ...Whoo... Arigatou, Erik-san."

"Bitte." He leaned in slightly, a faint smile forming, and was about to say something when he saw Carter in the doorway. Ada lit another cigarette.

"Have a new play toy and forgot to invite me, Erik-poo?"

"I'm so sorry, Ms. Carter... I thought you'd prefer something new, not used. After all, even Mason doesn't like to share..."

Ada drew her gun and aimed at Carter. "_Play toy?_"

Carter sighed. "True. But oh, she's very feisty... So what are you up to, Erik?"

"Only a little family matter. No need to get involved."

Ada fired a parabellum round past her head. She barely flinched, but her eyes seemed to glow yellow.

"Heh. Boomer.Or at least enhanced." She tapped more ashes onto the carpeting.

"Genom family or personal?"

"Not 'your' family, don't worry." He smiled tersely.

"Mind if I sit in anyway?"

"Not at all. _Was_ there anything more, Ms. Inho?"

"Not unless you want to tell me what 84-RPM is, and whether Ginny left a message or not."

"Heh. Fair enough. Why don't we go see if they've found one or yet..." He stood. "But you'll have to put the cigarette out."

"And the firearm; we are still a place of business," Carter added.

Ada put the cigarette out on her flesh arm, without flinching, and made it disappear. Then she followed him back into the labs. Erik used a handprint and retinal scan to open one; Ada recorded the serial numbers. _Steel's going to have some fun with this recording._

She walked in with Carter practically glued to her back, and watched Erik pull up a file series on the Replicant series he'd mentioned. "Access restricted. Voice verification required," the computer droned. 

He put his hand on the palmreader by the console. "Ashes of dead lovers." The screen blinked and then began running physical readouts of a male Replicant, with several codes at the bottom that Ada didn't recognize.

_NIR, TelOptim, Connect...huh? What the hell is he doing with this thing?_ The numbers kept fluctuating as if in realtime. "Huh...what's that?"

"As I said, I'm afraid I can't explain what the 84-RPM was designed to do. However, if you happen to run into Shaine again..."

"We seem to run in the same circle..."

Carter looked at Erik sternly. He tapped a few more buttons and a data screen appeared.

_Shang, Stephen C. So that's who he...wait, _who_..._

"You might ask her who he was."

_Ah. 'Ashes of dead lovers.' Right._ "Heh...reminds me of Robert Cheim."

"Hm." _Former head of GenChem in Albuquerque. Wonder what he is to her._

Ada frowned suddenly. _Arm feels funny..._ There was a tapping on the opaqued glass of a large viewing window, and she felt the Arm try to lift itself of its own volition, practically wrenching her organic shoulder out of its socket. The weapons systems inside it activated. Carter pressed a gun to her shoulder.

"Oh, God... _Steel! Show yourself!_" _What the fuck is he doing to me?_

_Tap tap tap tap tap..._

"He has her, Erik!" Carter hissed.

"Steel?" Erik gave her a puzzled look.

_Taptaptaptaptaptaptap...thwokkkk..._

"Let the woman _go_ and I won't kill you, Shang. Or her," Carter added as an afterthought.

Ada looked at the window, and then tried to aim at it. Her Arm felt heavy, and she was barely able to swing it away from Erik. Carter snatched up the remote for the window in her other hand and the opaquing snapped off. A wiry young Asian man, hair dyed blond, stared intently at Ada.

"Kssou. Erik, down!" He scowled and went outside.

_Thwok-- _Shang threw himself at the glass again, banging on it with his fists, no emotion visible on his face. Ada flipped him off.

Carter shook her head and pushed a button on the console. He slumped against the wall and slid out of view.

"Carter!" Erik bellowed. "You didn't use the Omnitaser _did you?_ You _know_ what that does to him!"

"No. Local EMP; should keep him from being a bad boy."

From the tone and volume Ada had to assume that Erik was swearing, but she didn't recognize any of it.

"Now, now, none of that," Carter sighed. _I wonder if he speaks that way to his Boomers?_ "And you, Miss Inho, you've been a bad girl."

She struggled to lower her Arm, which was still stiff but not fighting her anymore. It moved almost normally. "Fuck...off... ...Ite... What the flying fuck _was_ that?" Erik said nothing. "Answer me?"

"Miss Inho, there are some things that even you and your Raven masters should not know."

She turned on Carter. "Are you trying to recreate the Brela?"

"Brela? God, no," Erik muttered.

Carter grinned evilly. "Even if we are, Miss Inho, we cannot discuss such matters or share them with you."

"Anything but the Brela again."

"That may be what you get, Erik," Ada said. "Anything." She heard a shuffling from the next room, followed by what sounded like Shang falling back to the floor.

"Well...he's not brain dead this time."

"There is nothing wrong with the project," Carter huffed.

"Except you hired Ginny. She's a cyberbiologist. She'd be able to recode some of...that...into a message. And it would fuck up your experiments."

"Yes...that reminds me." Erik walked back in and headed for the computer console. "If there is a message, our lab boys couldn't find it. Or it was damaged in the transferrance."

"Lemme look at the chromosomal sequence."

Erik frowned. "No...one of the others did contain a message." He turned the screen toward Ada: _84-RPM-3.2 seq 5 - YUAN. _"That one died on the table."

"Yuan. Dear gods... Did she choose this target?"

"No."

Carter frowned at them. "Erik, I must warn you, you are coming dangerously close to jeopardizing your career."

"And you are being far too conservative to get results. You won't get anywhere hanging on to Quincy's apron strings."

"She's been seen with the Ravens, and as far as we know she's working for _them_ and not us."

"They haven't paid me," Ada growled.

"And she has brought me a recording of the battle at the museum...and her experiences in the Ravens' base afterward. Not to mention destroying the ADP's recordings of Shaine in a Raven hardsuit."

"Both of those could be ruses. Yet you just lead her into a restricted area - one that, I remind you, only a few should have ever seen--"

"Goddamn... she's in... Kssou!"

"May I remind you how easily Shaine ripped through our firewalls? The Ravens could have this any time they wanted. Because of _your_ lax security setup, might I add."

"Shaine's a hacker? Heh. Bet she uses keyboards..." Ada waved her hand.

"If you were serious about protecting this, it would be offline."

"She had your codes, Erik."

"And yes, Ms. Inho, she does indeed use a keyboard. I would still give good odds she's better than you, though."

"Heh. I'll have to judge for myself."

"You know the orders we have in regards to that--"

"And Ms. Carter...she does not have any of my current passwords, and all of them are codephrases she would not connect with me. It's been that way since she broke President December." _And yes, I know you know about her getting into my personal files._

"I'll approve the changes," Carter said grudgingly.

Ada slid her cybermodem in. "Ah, ah, ah, Ms. Inho..."

"Monitor me if you want to. I've got to find Lee."

"I'll need approval to have Hase's security team granted access. And go ahead, Ms. Inho. All of your activities will be logged."

_Tap... tap... tap... tap... tapwokwhopwhopwhopppppppp..._

Erik sighed. "Remind me to take away his toys when he doesn't need them."

Ada blurred through Albuquerque, Night City, and Tokyo, subtly leaving messages for the Bright Lancers and BL Old Guard as she went. "Damn. She's not there, there, there... Le's try... No, no, no, no... ah-HAH!" She darted past Erik and toward the door. "Seeyoulater.Can'tstay,mustgoandstopLeefromleaving..."

"Just a _moment_ Ms. Inho!" Erik grabbed her flesh arm. "_What_ is going on?"

"Ginnyishere,Imuststopher.She'sthereasonwhyyourexperimentsfail."

A voice came from behind the glass. "What... You... Say!"

"She's playing you for a fool, Erik." Carter put her gun to Ada's head; Ada grabbed it and crushed it.

Erik pressed the intercom button to Evon's office. "Halas, bring the leash."

Ada stopped. "Waittaminute... Is there an intercom into that room?"

"Yes."

"Give me a reason--"

"Lemme use it really fast!" Erik stepped back and she stepped up to the console. "How are you gentlemen! All your base are belong to us!"

"A...da... Make your time..."

_How the fuck did he know my name?_ "Move zig!"

"Erik, call security!"

"Zig! Forty-two!"

"You know what your doing! Take off every zig!" _Well, he's awfully enthusiastic...wonder if he's still all there... _"Someone set up us the bomb!"

Carter glared at Erik, but did nothing. Shang began to sing off-key. "You're not the boss of me noooow..."

He suddenly popped up at the bottom of the window, staring at Ada again. "Well...if you ever want a job as an animal tamer, Ms. Inho, we offer a competitive salary..." Erik started as the door chimed.

"They're boarding up the synagogues/Uzis on a street corner."

"I'm fed up with...small-time hustles...I'm too good to waste my talent for greed..." His voice was improving; he had to have had some sort of formal training before being captured by Genom.

Carter opened the door for Evon. "What do _you_ want?"

"Brought the leash." He held up a headset made of some writhing, gunmetal grey material.

"So if you want my address, it's number one at the end of the bar!/Where I sit with the broken angels/clutching at straws, and nursing our scars."

Shang blinked. Ada nodded.

Evon stared. "I haven't seen him that tame in a while..."

"Never mind. We've got it under control...you can go now." Erik glared at him darkly; he shrugged and wandered out.

Ada tipped an imaginary hat. "Be seeing you." She turned around."I thought I recognized that... Arigatou, Carter-sama, and Kohl-sama." She bowed.

"I don't care, Inho! I don't trust you, nor do I like the fact that you're even here. But trust me, if you fail me - or Erik - you will not live to regret it."

"Let's get this straight, shall we? You. Are. Paying. Me. Me. Loyal. To. You. Not. Scary. Ravens."

"Pa-thetic Earthlingggg...your feeble words do not a-muse meeee..."

Carter's finger went toward the console again, an evil grin on her face. "No," Erik growled.

"We get signal. _Move zig!_"

Shang looked at her with childlike fascination, the first emotion he'd shown. "I've had people walk out on me before but not when I was being so charming."

"Sorry. You just took over my Arm, is all..."

"Well, I am fairly evil..."

_"...But I've been happily married to my wife, Linda, for over six years now." Space Ghost! _"You have no idea."

"Erik, darling, I suggest we move this to another part of the Tower - before I fry poor Shang for the hell of it."

"Who all here is evil? Sound off!" He looked at Carter. "You're as harmless as a baby's...butt."

"I'm 1/16 evil," Ada offered.

"I'm going to have to go with Shang on this one," Erik said.

"Seeeeeee?" He had stopped blinking and was simply staring intently at Carter. "I will eat your liver with some fava beans and a fiiine Chiantiiii... oh and some _gum_!"

Carter rolled her eyes. He started blinking like Zorak. "Not if I eat yours first."

_Why do I get the feeling she really would?_ Erik thought.

"Thp-thp-thp-thp-thp!"

"Well, it's been fun, Erik, but I really ought to be going."

"Nah, nah, nah...I've never felt this way before - with a human. Swear!"

"Quiet, you, or I will find a way to make you feel a great deal of pain!" Carter stormed out.

Ada turned back to Shang and delivered her parting shot: "The Invasion of the Gabber Robots from the Laziest Men on Mars!" Then she left.

///

_Ugh. Well, it _was_ worthwhile, at least. I just wish I knew what they were saying to each other back there._ Erik sank back into his chair and tried not to think about what Carter's latest orders meant. She'd kicked Rice out of her office and called for seclusion, which meant she was probably enjoying one of her Boomers. He had sincere sympathy for whomever had to clean _that_ up afterward.

"I'm here." The Shaine copy was not his own personal one, but one of several kept for this sort of occasion. He figured Shang had earned it; it was the first time in days that he'd spoken.

And if Cryptography could just get a handle on it, he would at least have _some_ clue as to what Inho was thinking. They'd never met before, so he couldn't be passing secret messages back to the Ravens - even if he knew where Shaine really was. He lead the Boomer back into the lab and let her in. Shang never bothered to try to kill him when he brought _that_ visitor.

"Shaine...?" The transfer Replicant reached out to touch her face. He'd probably spend a good half hour just trying to convince himself of what he was seeing. One time he'd spent twice that simply examining her toes. Erik set a monitor to alert him when Shang fell asleep and walked out.

Now, if only he could figure out what to do with himself.

///

A couple of Carter's goons made sure that Ada's exit was swift and uneventful; after getting rid of them she used her rippers to write "Fuck off!" in Japanese on the concrete outside the building and headed for the coffeeshop where, hopefully, Ginny was still waiting.

At the shop, she quickly spotted Ginny near the back. _There you are, bitch!_

"Hello, Gin!"

"Hello, Ada." She smiled.

"I got the message. Really creative place to hide it..."

Ginny leaned over the table and smiled. "Well, it's been too long, and I knew you wouldn't just come look me up for old times' sake."

"I might have, but...well..." Ada laughed. "So..."

Ginny smiled darkly and sat back. "And I just knew you wouldn't be able to pass up what I've just found..."

"Really?"

She smiled even more. "I wonder if I should tell you..." The tips of her fingernails drummed against the table idly.

"Well, you _do_ owe me for that rescue back at the Morellos'."

"Hmmm." She drew a slip of paper out of her jacket and toyed with it, pretending to be deep in thought.

Out of the corner of her eye, Ada saw two of the Genom security goons walk into the coffeeshop. "Uh oh..."

The paper went back into her pocket. "What?"

"Gin, you're gonna owe me again. Le's exit stage right..."

Ginny followed, frowning. "So are you going to explain or does that cost extra?"

"What do you think?" Goon Number One was still looking at the prices, while Goon Number Two surveyed the crowd. Two was about 6'3" and looked like he could bench press about what Ada weighed. One was dark-skinned and slightly smaller - but only slightly.

"Heh."

"Genom." Ada spared a brief, disgusted look toward the white-suited men. "Kinda makes you want to fight one, neh?"

"Ohhh, yeah."

She slipped into the bathroom and then dragged a chair underneath the window. It looked uncomfortably small...but no time to complain. Ada rammed her cyberarm into it, then swept away the glass shards and squeezed through, sucking in her breath. She landed roughly on the pavement below. "Ooof. C'mon!" She saw another man in a white suit at the end of the alley but he was looking the other way.

Ada slipped down the alley without looking to see if Ginny was behind her, then turned the corner and looked around again. "Hm...think we lost 'em. --Ginny? Fuck!" There was no one there.

She kept looking as long as she dared, but the whitesuits were making her jumpy. Finally, muttering under her breath, she made her way back to her apartment and tried to locate Ginny from there. She found no trace: no hotel, no car, no record of departure by plane or train that had Ginny's characteristic stamp on it. She wasn't back at the Tower. In fact, Ada found no record of her having been in the city at all.

She spent the rest of the day in a very bad mood.


End file.
